How To Live Happier According To An Old Samurai

 One of the most popular samurai was Miyamoto Musashi, who was born in 1584. He was so respected and idealized that even after his death people were following his rules how to live their lives. In addition to being a samurai, he also became a writer. One of his works, “The Way of Walking Alone”, is still popular today.  In it, he described what rules to follow in order to live a happier life and these rules can be applied for a modern person, as well.

Below are mentioned some of Miyamoto Musashi’s tips how to be happier.

 Accept your life how it is. Stop complaining and live your life how it is meant to be. When you become in peace with whatever life throws at you, you liberate yourself from unnecessary stress, worry and anxiety.

  1. Pleasure which comes naturally is the most satisfying one. Thus, stop chasing it. Enjoy little moments. Miyamoto Musashi stated that everybody is able to be happy with what they have and there is no point in trying to get something which we don’t really need but want anyways.
  2. Don’t regret anything you did or didn’t do. He believed that life best lived is the one which is not controlled by regrets. You have to accept the fact that what happened, happened for a reason. What you did or didn’t do in the past were necessary parts of your life’s journey.
  3. Don’t trust your intuition. This fact seems quite contradictory, as in modern times people are taught to rely on their inner voices rather than knowledge. However, this samurai believed that sometimes it is better to trust on what you know will work the best for you rather than listening to what your intuition is telling you.
  4. Don’t be obsessed with how you look. In modern times, it is so easy to become obsessed with our appearance as there are a lot of ways how we can improve it. However, Miyamoto Musashi believed that it is more important to stick to the most meaningful things in life and improve ourselves as a person, but not our appearance.
  5. Don’t do what everybody else is doing. In other words – don’t be afraid to step out of the crowd. You shouldn’t believe something just because other people believe it. You should be able to form your own points of view.

 Thus, these rules to live a happier life were written 400 years ago and it is quite obvious that the same rules can be applied even today. Thus, follow them and live a happier life!